Harsh penalty for the situation, but then I guess if it’s a safety issue it’s got to be that way. Would still rather see the championship decided on the track rather than by some stupid scenario like this. Agree with Edwards’ twitter.

The problem it seems lies with Bridgestone/Dorna, who did not allow any additional testing at Phillip Island when they knew that the track surface had been re-laid. Especially after the tyre issues seen at the WSB races there earlier in the year.
This meant they (Bridgestone) provided tyres that weren’t up to the job of lasting an entire race distance. Which is a farce.

A very odd race, would have been great to see them change the wheel as they do in road racing.

Good to see Lorenzo win again too.

Not saying Marquez is not a good rider but I wonder if the Honda is head and shoulders above the other bikes and a lot of the top riders could be winning races? I mean Stoner, Pedrosa and Marc could be Rossi/Cal/Hayden etc…

I agree about the comments ref Lorenzo, I can’t warm to him but damn he’s trying everything he can and have a huge amount of respect for him. His riding is amazing when you consider just how much faster he’s going at the start of a race.

Yeah i think it was Dorna actually, crazy though not to allow at least a tyre test by the tyre manufacturers themselves to gather some data. Dunlop suffered the same problems in Moto 2 as the race was shortened ‘due to safety concerns’.

I think Bridgestone were being very cautious, having a history of tyres exploding at 200mph!
In terms of the penalty for Marquez – the rules were the same for everyone and available before the race; black flag was the right ruling in my book.

By coming in late he would have had the freshest tyres at the end of the race with obvious advantages, and he was working on the assumption that there was a safety margin left in the tyres. Honda didn’t really believe that the black flag would be applied to them.

I initially thought the penalty was too severe. A ride through should have done it, but then the thought of a tyre going bang with Marquez no doubt being up close and personal with the leading group, and we could have seen a very nasty situation.

I can’t believe Honda thought the rules wouldn’t apply to them – could you imagine the furore if, with the teams clearly notified they had to change on lap 9 or 10, Honda stayed a lap longer and won? Nah, not a chance.

Yes, it’s all been explained by MM. It was team tactics, all agreed before the race. There was no riders meeting, just a sheet of A4 handed to the teams a couple of hours before the race. The tactics were based on that.

They thought they had a cunning plan by pulling in on lap 11 as their pit box was before the start finish line so they wouldn’t complete the 11th lap. This meant they’d only completed 10. You can’t argue with that.

Unfortunately they’d missed the previous line that said they had to pull in on lap 9 or 10.

It really was a stupid plan, far too risky. They cut the lead in both the riders and constructors championship. Both were virtually nailed on certs if they had played it safe, now there might be some doubt creeping in.

Two years ago today that we lost Marco Simoncelli 🙁
How great would it be to see #58 go head to head with Marquez.
What do you think he’d be riding these days? I reckon Pedrosa would’ve been out of a job!
Ciao Marco…..

Even if the BBC coverage is bad (which I am not sure I agree with), it is still licence payer funded so I get to see it. I wont be getting BT sport and the local pub doesn’t show it on telly so I wont get to see it after this season.

Was just reading that Heuwen is pretty well regarded by BT sport so could be in with a shout.

Where did Mamola go? He was very good in the pit lane.

Wonder if BT sport will devote a bit more time to MotoGP than they have given it space on their web site? Having had a look on their website it would seem priorities are 97% football, 2% rugby and 1% “other sports”.